Bonnie, Jessica and I were in the infancy stages of developing our mission for Foster & Flourish. We were dreaming about ways to gather creatives in collaboration with each other. We'd hosted one fantastic styled shoot already, and a sold-out watercolor class coming up.

Over numerous lattes and several orders of avocado toast, we decided to have our next event celebrate summers on Long Island And so our Vintage 1960’s Styled Shoot was born!

It was our vision to bring to life Bonnie’s love for all things vintage, Jessica’s whimsical stationery aesthetic, and for me to beautifully capture the vision on film, a medium I adore. I was so excited to photograph it! I would, in fact, be the one hosting the event and inviting photographers who love to shoot film to join along on the adventure.

Bonnie and Jessica’s trust in my craft means so much to me and their encouragement has fueled my desire to continue to get out of my comfort zone and to grow. I wanted to host this Styled Workshop for just this reason. I also like to teach others and see them grow. I have, over the years, been asked to share my knowledge and experience, and I feel that I have something of substance to offer to those seeking direction in their photography journey. I wanted this to be a hands on, ask-me-anything workshop where those who attended left knowing a little more than they did when they arrived. I wanted to give back. Invitations were open to all photographers: those that are new to film, those wanting to add film to their current repertoire, or those who simply wanted to add a session with this style to their portfolio.

As with all plans we have to be prepared for the unexpected- in our case it was the weather. And when the unexpected arrived, our community, both professional and personal, pulled through and breathed life into our vision and it was even better than we imagined. It was community and collaboration at its finest!